When it comes to handling hardship, perspective is key. Whatever you are going through today, remember that Jesus wins in the end, and he will have the victory!
When it comes to handling hardship, it’s all a matter of perspective.
And that is the truth! Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and perspective means everything when you are hurting or facing hardship. Here, let me use an illustration from when I was on my feet, ’cause back in high school, I played field hockey, and our team was ranked pretty high in the county. Some of the schools we went up against were awfully tough, and we could count on lots of spills and slides and falling face-down in the mud. Because I played center forward, I always seemed to be in the thick of things: running fast, falling down. But no matter how many times I took a hard fall, if I knew that we were ahead on the scoreboard, oh, my goodness, well, then, I would jump up, brush myself off, head back into the game with drive and energy. Hey, we’re five goals ahead? Come on, let’s go: we’re winning; we can do this; victory’s within reach! But if I took a lot of hard falls in a game where we were five goals behind, then it was a different story – I already felt defeated. And I’d drag myself back up on my feet, head back into the game, feeling discouraged, feeling like “What’s the use? We’ve already lost. We’ll never get back into it.”
My attitude toward the whacks from the hockey sticks and collisions with my opponents, and the trip-ups and the spills and falls, my attitude depended entirely on what the scoreboard looked like. If we were winning, it did not matter how many bumps and spills there were – we were game on. If we were losing, then who wants to keep taking these hits? What good is it? We may as well give up. See? It’s all a matter of perspective. My attitude toward pain all depended on whether we were losing or winning.
And, you know what? It is exactly the same way in life. In fact, it is what I remind myself every morning when I get up. Dealing with quadriplegia, wheelchair, chronic pain, well, those are some pretty hard hits. But, hey, I know what’s on the scoreboard. I know that we are on the winning side. I keep the big picture. The Bible tells me how the game turns out. So when it comes to getting up in the morning and facing the day in my wheelchair, it is, “Let’s go; we’re winning; we can do this; victory is within reach.” It’s all about perspective and knowing who wins in the end – it’s Jesus, and we are on his team. And, yes, it is hard here on earth: lots of bumps, lots of bruises. Oh, you could be tempted to drag yourself back up on your feet with a defeated attitude, or you could remember that, yes, you are filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions and, yes, you are getting your faith tested and refined and, yes, it is all fitting together for your good and God’s glory. “But why does it have to be so hard?” you might say. Well, what can I say? Except Acts 14:22, where we are told that “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
But that’s okay, because we know how it all turns out. So friend, let’s get up and get going and get excited about honoring God with our bruised and battered bodies. And if you need a little inspiration to do that today, then come on over to my radio page at joniradio.org after we’re finished here and pick up your copy of “Bible Promises for Hope and Courage.” It is full of wonderfully inspiring verses from God’s Word that I just know will spur you on and help you keep looking at the scoreboard and who wins at the end. And I promise, you’ll be blessed! So let’s go! We can do this! Victory is right on heaven’s horizon.
© Joni and Friends